Jon collapsed onto one knee, allowing his white-coloured locks to regain their usual brown colour to them. Fighting against the Knight Ranked Venomous-Sand Hydra was even more difficult than fighting against the Malum Hobgoblin, given its tremendous inherent physical size and strength.

The sound of his Seir-Glacial Heart pounding within his chest prevented him from hearing the cheers that Sariel and Avahni let out, high-fiving one another from across the chamber.

Sweat caused his clothes to cling uncomfortably to his chest but restrained himself from using up any more spiritual energy.

Although he had been under the influence of numerous different buffs, the second instance of his frozen end arts he had cast had required the full amount of spiritual energy. His Fragment Of Annihilation used up fifty percent of his ice natured spiritual energy, even with the reduced spiritual energy expenditure gifted to him through Sariel's [Thousand Lotus Blessing], that was still seventy-five percent of all the mana within his Ice Mana Core.

Lifting his head, Jon glanced towards the Venomous-Sand Hydra, seeing its tremendous form encased in ice and snow. A subtle chill filled the underground chamber beneath the Pyramid Of Kel, each breath that he took releasing a soft cloud of heated air.

'Hydra Mana Core. Sand Mana Core. Venom Mana Core. Magic Mana Core. Fire Mana Core and a Mother Mana Core. We were fortunate that it had not integrated a Fragment Of Mind, allowing us to see its abilities even as Mortals.' Jon let out a small groan, looking down his shirt and noticing a large purple-yellow bruise starting to form on his chest.

His Fragment Of Regeneration swiftly worked to boost his natural recovery rate, although was stretched quite thin at the moment knowing that he had at least three different micro-fractures across his fingers and forearms.

[Green Is The Flesh, As Red Is The Blood] in tandem with the effects of [One With Green] boosted his natural recovery rate so that a third-degree burn would take about a week to fully heal. This was considering a burn that stretched across an entire limb as well.

The fight was not as arduous as it could have been, considering how well prepared the five of them were. With both Ortlinde and Schwarz Eis providing additional damage and support, Wilheim and the others could hold their own against the Guardian.

The fact that it could manifest smaller versions of itself threw them off guard, throwing their formation into a bit of a mess. Dozens of incomplete hydras and two-headed hydras were birthed from its flesh and spiritual energy, possessing nothing but a ravenous hunger and the desire to kill the enemies of their mother.

Although each of the "adds" as Trevor would put it, possessed a physical strength exceeding that of an uninitiated human, they were nothing in comparison to a Mortal with a Fragment Of Marrow.

'The fight did not warrant the need for [Helel]. Considering that Avahni was holding back from using wither Xochitl or Ler Setanta, our group probably only displayed about half our actual strength.' He thought to himself.

Taking a deep breath, Jon stood up on one leg, noticing a faint trembling within his left hand. With a burst of controlled regeneration towards the limb, the trembling stopped, allowing Jon to chuckle before standing up back on two feet.

The Venomous-Sand Hydra had its movements were somewhat hindered within this underground chamber, preventing him or Ortlinde from disengaging without putting Shamael or Wilheim under immense amounts of pressure.

Seven heads meant that the Dungeon Guardian to cast multiple Spells at once, something that the five of them did not consider during their meeting before the fight.

'Have to consider the natural physical traits of enemies before fighting them. Snakes will possess poison even without the integration of Mana Cores or fragments. Bears will possess naturally thick hides dulling the effects of bludgeoning attacks.'

But other than that, it was a good fight.

If spiritual energy intensive.

Glaucus had shattered after Jon received a particularly powerful blow to the chest and Archetype Avarice had been annihilated through the debuffs and afflictions the Knight had managed to tag him with.

Taking a deep breath, Jon shook his head, glancing one last time at the Venomous-Sand Hydra. Turning towards the figures of Schwarz Eis beside Shamael and Ashvattha Rana behind Avahni and Sariel, Jon smiled.

An unfamiliar looking System prompt appearing in front of all five of them at the same time. To Jon's surprise, he was able to see screens manifest themselves in front of all his companions, each of them glancing towards each other surprised at the unusual sight.

Defeat [Heph; Venomous-Sand Hydra] confirmed!

Mortal Dungeon Of "Sand" cleared!

Congratulations on the completion of the Burning Desert Of Kel!

Tasks required before completion of System Introduction.

[10]: Enter minimum of one random System generated Dungeon and defeat the Guardian that lies within. Individuals will receive a unique reward with each addition Dungeon completed over the duration of the System Introduction.

Dungeon clear detected…

Mortal Ranked reward-.

Jon closed the System reward page before receiving his Mortal Ranked reward. Given that it would either be a fragment of his choice or a spiritual item of his choice, he decided that it would be best to wait until clearing a few more Dungeons before receiving his rewards all together.

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In the corner of his vision Jon noticed the familiar sight of a Dungeon entrance manifest behind them. The Dungeon construct prevented them from exiting the Pyramid Of Kel, causing Jon to glance back towards the corpse of the Venomous-Sand Hydra.

His gaze lingered on it for a few moments before turning towards Eis and communicating to her through his Fragment Of Summon.

"Eis, what happens to the Dungeon if we take the Mana Cores contained within the Guardian?" He asked.

Schwarz Eis responded without even having to turn her head.

"It will randomly form another Guardian from the Mana Cores it uses to expand itself. Instead of using them to fuel its growth, it would use them to manifest another Dungeon Guardian."

"In the event that is has no more Mana Cores to give, the Dungeon will gradually waste away over time. If that happens the Dungeon will die." Said Schwarz Eis, pausing for a moment before narrowing her gaze towards Jon.

"You're not thinking about leaving the Mana Cores behind are you?" she said, her tone pointed.

Jon shook his head from side to side.

"No! Of course not! This is the System Introduction after all! If it was a Dungeon back on Earth I might consider it but…" Jon trailed off towards the end, turning towards Avahni and Sariel, shouting towards them from across the chamber.

"Can I have another round of spiritual energy please!?" he asked, prompting the two gift Jon some of their spiritual energy, courtesy of their Fragments Of Spirit.

The reappearance of both [Baptism Of Fire] and [Thousand Lotus Blessing] brought a smile to Jon's face. Turning back towards the corpse of the Knight, Jon took a step forward, manifesting Assail in his free hand.

Spear natured spiritual energy started flowing into his Fragment Of Eradication as Jon recited the chant for his imperial spear art.

"I am tranquillity, the silver destruction which shatters the boundless firmament. I am severance, the gracious death which accompanies the birth of truth and justice. I am extinction, the divine judgement which severs the concepts of karma and sin, delivering all to the depths of mine imaginary annihilation!"

Avahni, Sariel, Wilheim and Shamael all watched as Jon slashed out, an enormous thirty-foot long replica of the Spear Of Verdant Cedar cutting through three of the seven heads of the Venomous-Sand Hydra. Given that this was a corpse, Jon cut through the heads with a near-perfect accuracy, severing them at the base of their necks.

Weakened through the effects of his frozen end art, the heads crashed onto the ground with a dull thud. Warmish blood spilling out from the wounds alongside several shiny gemstones which gleamed amongst the ice and snow.

Shamael and Avahni both rushed forward despite the blood and viscera, wading through them to retrieve the fragments and Mana Cores within. Wilheim and Sariel followed suit, the former giving Jon a wide smile as he dismissed his Fragment Of Spear.

After roughly ten minutes of searching, the five of them had found exactly fifty-one fragments and six Mana Cores. Although there were several familiar fragments, such as a Fragment Of Marrow and a Fragment Of Size, there were some strange-looking fragments that not Jon or Avahni or even Wilheim had ever seen before.

Fragment Of "Book" discovered!

Fragment Of "Key" discovered!

Fragment Of "Ink" discovered!

Fragment Of "Candle" discovered!

Fragment Of "Food" discovered!

Jon looked down at the five fragments in his hands, noticing that Wilheim, Avahni and the others all seemed quite disinterested in them. Perhaps it was the commonality of their names or how simplistic the concepts they represented were, but Jon could not help but find them all quite interesting.

'Fragment Of Key… I might save that one for Knighthood I reckon,' Jon smiled, quite liking his share of the rewards.

He has also obtained the Sand Mana Core that the Guardian possessed, deciding to give up the opportunity to obtain either the Magic Mana Core or Hydra Mana Core. The former had gone to Wilheim, while the latter had ended up in Shamael's hands.

Sariel obtained both the Venom Mana Core and Fire Mana Core leaving Avahni to receive the Mother Mana Core. Ru Luan Di seemed quite pleased with how things had ended up, giving what Jon thought was a grin to Ortlinde who just rolled her eyes in response.

Jon was unsure what manner of abilities the Knight manifested using Fragments Of Book and Fragments Of Candle but did not see evidence of them being used during the fight. Fragments with such limited conceptual weight to them would tend to manifest abilities with a limited scope.

Fragments Of Knowledge or a Fragment Of Story would often be more preferable to Fragments Of Book.

While Fragments Of Fire or even Fragments Of Light would be chosen over Fragments Of Candle.

Despite this, Jon did not intend to integrate most of them upon reaching Knighthood.

He had something else in mind for them.

Throwing the handful of fragments that he had obtained from the Venomous-Sand Hydra into his Red Archives, Jon instead turned his focus towards his four companions.

Avahni had just integrated a Fragment Of Hydra into her Earth Mana Core and a Fragment Of Spawn into her Lightning Mana Core, reading the two effect descriptions with a wide grin stretched across her face. Wilheim had chosen to integrate a Fragment Of Breath into his Tundra Mana Core, keeping the Fragment Of Intoxication and Fragment Of Desiccation in his pocket for safe-keeping.

Sariel had not chosen to integrate any fragments quite yet, although did choose a Fragment Of Cloud, Fragment Of Hollowing, Fragment Of Preparation and Fragment Of Robe as her share of the loot.

Shamael had obtained several fragments, considering that he was the weakest amongst them. Wilheim had given up his chance to choose another fragment, giving the opportunity to the blue-skinned satanas, something that Shamael was grateful for.

'Shamael should be able to reach the Fifth Initiation with the Hydra Mana Core in his possession. Sariel might too, although I know she was looking for a Phoenix Mana Core to better synergize with Despoina.'

After the two satanas found out that Mana Cores could be obtained through task rewards, both Sariel and Shamael refrained from integrating Mana Cores that they had obtained from random mutated beasts or strange creatures.

The freedom of being able to choose their own Mana Core appealed much better to them. Jon knew he could have considered using his own task reward to obtain his sixth Mana Core but did not feel the need given how suitable the Weave Mana Core felt in his hands.

He could choose any four Mana Cores using his remaining task rewards but did intend on using them until the end of the System Introduction.

"You four ready yet?" he shouted, pointing his thumb in the direction of the Dungeon exit. Four heads perked up from whatever effect description or task rewards they were accepting to turn towards the enormous gate behind them.

Wilheim nodded, dismissing his status page before striding forward to stand beside him.

Avahni did the same, literally skipping towards the Dungeon exit, Ortlinde trailing behind her.

Sariel and Shamael shared a quick glance, the latter smiling before waving towards Wilheim and the others, gesturing for them to wait up.

Jon could not help but smile, placing his hand on the grand-looking Dungeon exit, letting out a deep breath as he pushed forward. His trust in these strange sapient aliens was not misplaced, despite his initial beliefs.

Although Jon believed that self-sufficiency was the greatest form of reliance a person could have, he often found himself thinking differently, having faith in the lutin, floresiensis and two satanas around him.

'I cannot wait to see where this world takes me,' Jon thought to himself, grinning as he stepped through the enormous arched gateway.

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